Books vs eBooks: Should People ‘Swipe Right’ on eReaders?

Swipe left, swipe right, swipe up, swipe down. We are living in a swipe culture, and it has bled into the way we read books. Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and every other obscure e-reader out there have revolutionized the way we read. But which is better: books vs ebooks?

No longer do we only flip our pages, watch one side get smaller as the other gets thicker, and smell that glorious new book smell. Instead we can now swipe and slide, unlocking new worlds. But which one is better?

The Kindle queued up on Amazon in 2007, and reached its peak sales in 2011. There are some very obvious benefits to e-readers; they are great for traveling, you buy as many books as you want without having to wait two whole days for shipping, and, of course, the books tend to be significantly cheaper than in their physical form.

But there are some noticeable disadvantages to e-readers too. Those of us who like to soak in the tub and read a good book run the risk of dropping it in the water. While a print book will recover, albeit slightly crinkled, an e-reader faces imminent death by water should your hands fumble. And if you’re a skimmer, jumping ahead to read what’s coming, it’s much harder to do on an e-reader, and keep your place.

So what’s the case for print books? Whenever I think about print books, I think of the feel of it, the natural weight. But it’s more than just a feeling; recent studies show that print books are better for you to read. People are more likely to buy books when they’re browsing a bookstore or a library, people don’t connect as well with on-screen texts, and they retain less information from what they read.

There have always been and will continue to be changes made to the way we read, first with the printing press, now with e-readers. What’s next? Holograms?

For me, I need to feel the weight of the book in my hands, flip through the pages at will, and run my fingers across the cover. But if e-readers spark a person’s interest in books, then I have no complaint. Whether you’re a staunch print booker, an e-reader, or stuck somewhere in the middle, it’s important that we continue to make our contribution to print culture, and buy books.